Today is the first day of the next month in our lives without Giancarlo Stanton. If you want, I’m holding a candlelight vigil in the garbage can behind Stanton’s house. If you come, don’t make too much noise. We aren’t technically supposed to be there. The good news about his hamstring injury is when he’s limping away from us, it’ll be a lot easier to stay exactly 501 feet away. Before he’d backpedal and it was like we were doing the lambada with 501 feet between us. The bad news is I’m writing this post with tears. Hnfcsdcnnn. That was a big, stupid tear that got away from me. Short circuit my keyboard, tears. I plead with you, so I don’t have to continue. I wonder if I can seal envelopes with these tears. That would be turning lemons into lemonade, right? Ow, I just touched my eyes, and now these lemons are burning my eyes. This is the sourest injury news ever. Make the pain go away, alcohol! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Stephen Strasburg – 6 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 8 Ks. Not bad, but St. Strasburg hasn’t looked like he can walk on water this year. Perhaps on honey due to a higher viscosity. Could it have been a resident of Strasburg, Virginia killed a wasp and the butterfly effect messed up his Inverted W? (Which is just an effin’ M, by the way.) Too New Agey of a reason? Maybe his performance to date is due to the forearm stiffness he’s been dealing with that the Nationals just revealed. I bet Strasburg owners would prefer the New Agey reason. He says he won’t miss a start. Hopefully, he’s right. Obviously, you just have to sit tight and hope for good news. That’s sit tight, not sit in tight pants. Go change and come back.

Wilson Ramos – Returned from the DL. Fun Fact Alert! Did you know when Castaway was dubbed for Latin America, Wilson Ramos was the name of the volleyball?

Jayson Werth – Left the game after fouling a ball off his foot. I hope he wasn’t barefoot, but whenever I look at his mountain man picture, I wonder.

Chad Tracy – 2-for-4, 1 RBI. I honestly thought he was out of baseball. Member they used to have Player-Managers? Chad Tracy should be the first Player-Announcer. “Coming up in the top of the 8th will be the pitcher’s spot, so I might not be here…” “Welcome back from commercial, the Nats are going to pinch-hit with Bernadina, so here we are.”

Pablo Sandoval – Left yesterday’s game with right elbow discomfort. Oh, no, his eating arm. Obviously, this isn’t good news since this was the same issue he was dealing with about a month ago that almost sent him to the DL. This time I don’t think he avoids it, but, as of right now, he’s hoping to. Someone put the owners of Strasburg, Giancarlo and Sandoval on 24-hour watch.

Brandon Belt – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 2nd homer. I really think he has it in him to be great, but, man, he makes it hard to recommend him after he’s disappointed so many times.

Kevin Youkilis – According to the New York Post, Youuuuuuuuk hasn’t played in six of the past seven games. I could’ve sworn he hadn’t played in two of the past three years. Sounds like he’ll be going on the DL, which will make him much more valuable in fantasy since he won’t be clogging up your lineup anymore.

Yuniesky Betancourt – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 5th homer as he hits .286. Eh, he’s terrible, but I just picked him up in one league and I’m trying to convince myself he’s decent. Betancourt is decent! Yeah, that’s barely working.

Norichika Aoki – 1-for-4, 2 runs and his 3rd homer. Was slumping for the last week, but now looks like he is Aokidoki.

Garrett Jones – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 2nd day in a row with a homer. Member when I told you to pick him up? You don’t? *grits teeth* It was yesterday.

Wandy Rodriguez – 3 2/3 IP, 7 ER. The fact Snafu Larry keeps perpetuating this Wandy Line is ludicrous. Maybe four years ago Wandy was the cut-off of good and bad. Maybe.

Mat Latos – 6 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks. Some people actually asked yesterday if they should start Latos in this game. Latos has a sub-3 ERA in the last 200+ innings. He’s been better than every pitcher in the majors for ERA in that time, except for how many pitchers? Not rhetorical! Seriously, how many? Maybe 4 guys? 5?

Jason Heyward – Recovering from his appendectomy is obviously taking longer than anticipated and Heyward says he won’t return until end of May. Geez, the Brady Bunch’s Cousin Oliver appendix was done away with in quicker time.

Julio Teheran – 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 11 baserunners, 5 Ks. With Beachy about a month away, Teheran could be deserted by the Braves, depending on military budget cuts and room in the rotation. Speaking of Teheran, you think the Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran” is Iran’s national anthem? I’m gonna guess, yes, it is.

Martin Prado – 2-for-5 and a solo homer, his 4th. Not to get all scientific, but his BABIP is almost a hundred points off his career rate. I.e., there’s no way he hits .216 all year, as he currently is.

Jason Kubel – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 3rd homer, a day after returning from the DL. He should be owned in every league. Just not by me because I’m not a huge fan.

Dan Straily – 4 2/3 IP, 6 ER. On the bright side, he helped me avoid about two dozen, “Grey, should I pick up Straily?”

Trevor Bauer – Will get a spot start on Wednesday vs. the Phils. Rather than make the trip for one start, he will be long-tossing from Akron.

Ubaldo Jimenez – 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks. From someone who watched this game, the Royals swung at more balls than your high school coach doing a cup check.

Jason Kipnis – 1-for-4, 2 runs and his 1st homer. It’s still bad when you raise your average with a 1-for-4, but I have to imagine Kipnis will be better than he’s been, and this is coming from someone who didn’t even like him in the preseason.

Kevin Gregg – Got the save yesterday, his 4th. I’ve now owned him and Marmol on three different occasions and haven’t recorded one save from either, but instead I’ve gotten every single run Kelvin Herrera has allowed. I’m not bitter. NOT AT ALL!

Cody Ransom – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 2nd homer. This homer came against the Padres, the team that just released him. Revenge is a dish best served Cody. Ransom could be a hot bat now that he’s freed of the Petco shackles. You’ll need to platoon him though because he shares time with Malbuena, who also answers to ‘not good.’

Max Scherzer – 7 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 10 Ks. About four years ago, we nicknamed Scherzer Jobacum because he looked like his stuff was as nasty as both of them. Yeah, that shizz is more dated than you saying your FUBU hoodie is phat. Joba Chamberlain and Tim Lincecum wish they were an eighth as good as Scherzer. They are Sux Schizzers. They are nothing compared to Michael Chabon’s fabled character, Max Scherzer: The Golem.

Joaquin Benoit – Got the save yesterday because Valverde had worked a few days in a row. I’m glad Leyland has figured out an exact order of his bullpen. It only took him two months, if you consider Spring Training.

Andy Dirks – 2-for-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI and his 1st homer. He hit 2nd because Hunter had the night off. I wish Mike Mostsuckass could hit second for the Tigers. Actually, I wish I could. I’d be a Hall of Famer in that lineup slot.

Lucas Harrell – 6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 4 Ks, 3.60 ERA on the year. He’s the kind of guy that has sneaky value for AL-Only leagues, but if you start him outside of Petco or Crayola Canyon you got a screw loose.

Carlos Corporan – 4-for-5, 2 runs, 4 RBIs and his 1st homer. He’s just happy to have a job and won’t question why he’s the back-up. What a Corporan man.

Brandon Barnes – 3-for-5, 3 RBIs and his 3rd steal. He’s a platoon guy, but his mom Priscilla is hot.

Michael Saunders – 1-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 2nd homer as he returned from the DL. I’d definitely look at him if someone dropped him while he was on the DL. I wouldn’t expect too much, maybe 17/17 over the season. He’s better than big bro, Joe. Speaking of which…

Matt Harvey – 5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks vs. the MIA Marlins. The Ks are real and they’re spectacular, but it’s not even May yet and he’s already starting to look human. Not to mention, throwing him for 121 pitches yesterday (yes, in only five-plus innings), Terry Collins must be taking classes at the Dusty Baker School of Pitch Management. Prof. Dusty, “For years, too many major league executives made imprudent and dangerous decisions, seeking bullpen arms with too little regard for risk and too little accountability. The very crisis our starters face now is not being able to pitch into the 6th inning. Our starters are being imported from other countries and everyone wants to talk pitch count. I call that the b*tch count.”

David Wright – Sat yesterday with a sore neck. Maybe he got whiplash from the “Now you see Valdespin, now you don’t” magic act Terry Collins is doing with the lineup.

Josh Willingham – 1-for-4 with his 5th homer. The Other White Meat hasn’t truly started firing up the lardons yet, but I imagine he’ll be fine for 27-ish homers when everything is said and done.

Jose Fernandez – 4 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks. As I said after his last start, Jo-Fer will be a good one at some point, but he’s still too young and the Marlins can afford to send starters out for four innings just to see how they look. You can’t in fantasy. And that’s me paraphrasing me!

Marcell Ozuna – Will probably take Giancarlo’s spot for the next few weeks hopefully, longer possibly. How dare you, Ozuna? How dare you? Ozuna has big time power, but will also whiff a ton. His minor league stats like a bit donkeyish. Here’s what Scott, our prospect writer, said, “Ozuna is regarded as one of the streakier hitters in Minor League Baseball, and I doubt that changes much as he moves through the upper levels. With an aggressive approach, plus raw power, and the ability to crush lefties, he has a skillset that’s conducive to streakiness. But that’s not necessarily a killer in the fantasy game — that might be something you’d want to avoid in H2H formats, but Ozuna is a guy who could hit 25+ homers in the bigs. The power will come with a .250ish average, but it’s certainly not worthless. Unlike Grey.” Hey, not cool! If I may, I’d say Scott meant that .250ish average after Ozuna develops a bit more. He’s now being rushed and I think he might not hit .220. There is some power, but he’s not a pick-up outside of NL-Only leagues yet.

Hanley Ramirez – Pinch-hit last night, but will start tomorrow as he returns from the DL. What did you say? I’m gonna make him this Friday’s Sell? Nah, too obvious. Really, really obvious. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge, kazoo*

Wilin Rosario – 3-for-4, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and his 7th homer and 19 RBIs. He has more RBIs than everyone but one player (Adam Jones) on my RCL team. *knocks over motorcycles at biker’s bar, waits to get pummeled*

Nolan Arenado – 3-for-6, 3 runs, 2 RBIs and his first homer. Yippie-ki-Arenado! Oh, man, I need him to pick up some serious slack, so I hope he’s better than even how good he’s being billed. I found the perfect song to listen to while watching an Arenado at-bat, Strawberry Bubblegum by Justin Timberlake. It is so gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, except according to Chris Broussard. Obviously, big news in the world of basketball yesterday. Good for Jason Collins, but what I want to talk about is ESPN. They didn’t have the story (SI did), so ESPN sent the most controversial opinion in front of the cameras. From pre-interviews, they know what Broussard would say. From just having him around ESPN’s compound, I’m sure they know his views. They might’ve wanted Broussard out (so to speak) and let him write his own eviction. Or maybe they’ll keep him and just accept the ‘any press is good press’ angle. Either way, it was a calculated, pathetic move by ESPN to make the story about them. Pundit Grey out.

Brandon Crawford, Michael Saunders, Denard Span, Chris Carter or Lucas Duda for my UTL spot. I did just lose Stanton but want the best overall player. I could also pick up 2 of these guys if I drop Axford (other RP’s are Perez and Wilhelmsen).

Did anyone else catch the hilarious reaction of Nolan Arenado’s family reacting/not reacting to his first major league hit? It came on an infield single where the 3B threw late to 2nd to try and get the force. His dad stands up and raises his arms while the rest of the family sits on their hands, then dad calms down and sits until the official scorer puts it up as a hit (you can see his dad waiting to celebrate again waiting for the scoring). He later added a hit that went over the fence so even mom could confidently celebrate her son’s bat this time around.

@supra: You need to lighten up if you don’t see the humor in 80% of the family not even realizing that the guy just had his first hit in the big leagues. And the dad steals the show with his performance.

@C.O.C.: I just removed ESPN from my bookmarks and deleted Baseball Tonight from the list of shows I DVR. I won’t contribute to their ratings or page clicks anymore. Putting up with Schilling and Tebowmania is bad enough. Now this?

Sorry for your loss, Grey. After Masterson’s last start do you like Cashner, Quintana, Villanueva, Iwakuma, Estrada better? Cahill or Beckett maybe? So many free agent pitchers that I’m frozen with indecision. It’s standard roto, weekly, no streaming or I’d play matchups. My worst category is WHIP. You’re the best!

Ok, need your help trying to hold down the fort while Stanton is out. He hasn’t done much for me this season and im in first place, so im not completely freaking out yet. Anyways here is my roster configuration. 10 team h2h standard 5×5 league with 1 DL spot.

1) Go with the team status quo. This would mean playing Gardner and Frazier everyday and playing match ups with Altuve/Lowrie/Rutledge.

2) Drop one of Altuve/Lowrie/Rutledge and pick up another outfielder. Two middle infielders not dropped would play every day and would play match ups with Gardner/Frazier/FA.

3)

4) Drop Fujikawa. He is still one week away but closers have been hard to come by in this league. Despite being a shallow league, every potential closer candidate is being stashed. Fujikawa is my only available chance at adding a third closer.

haha yeah I’ve been pretty much playing Frazier everyday but he has been struggling a little bit of late. Im probably more concerned with playing Gardner everyday since he hasn’t been stealing any bases.

“We regret that a respectful discussion of personal viewpoints became a distraction from today’s news. ESPN is fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins’ announcement.”

Translation: “WE are glad that an unnecessarily broadcasted discussion of useless personal viewpoints from people that do not matter successfully became a distraction from some unnamed source’s news. ESPN is fully committed to self-important schlock spouted from the faces of OUR faux journalists and welcomes the attention that OUR self-righteous employee’s reaction to Jason Collins’ announcement brought upon US. WE will shout over each other about this issue in more depth tomorrow on FIRST TAKE at 10 AM ET on ESPN2.”

I feel like this is all that ESPN higher ups and talking heads (Broussard being one of the worst when it comes to his “sources”) hear in their minds when someone else breaks a story.

@Marty Funkhouser: So now they’re gonna now talk about the story they created about the reaction to the story…. Surprised they even linked to SI with the story… Most times they just do something like An article ran at deadspin.com yesterday, and we blah blah blah… With no link to it.

Its so sad that on one of my teams right now that I picked up Ozuna in a mixed leage, can I call him Marcarlo Ozunton? put out a little cut out of Giancarlo face on top of his body on my TV screen when he comes to bat? I’m feeling like I’m in the insane assylum in Cheech and Chang’s Nice Dreams chained to the wall and given the hit of acid by Timothy Leary

1) Get Homer Bailey, give Kyle Seager.
(I have Longo at 3rd so positional depth doesn’t matter here, plus I’m not a big Seager fan. Check the archives if you must.)
2) Get Dat Dude BP, give Matt Harvey.
(I’ve been running Zobrist/Segura at 2B/SS but now Segura won’t absolutely crush my feelings if/when he cools off. I also thought now was a prime time to sell high on Harvey and the rest of my staff includes Scherzer, Cueto, Moore, Medlen, Iwakuma, Cashner and some streamers.)

What are your thoughts, folks? I gotta be honest, I’m feeling pretty good about these deals right now.

Tonight my pain came in the form of starting Pettitte, Cain, and Straily.
-7 total (H2H points), 3 of 12 starts burned at the stake.
Do I risk another hot poker in the form of Cobb @ KC tomorrow? I rode Masterson at the Kauf last week and his wheels fell off 7 times.

@Al Bundy: Yes, Cobb has been scorching hot and that includes all of Spring and into last season. Start with confidence. You can’t make up points from your bench, and with those Monday starts you need to try.

Own Giancarlo/Hamilton/Cain/Moustakas on same team, I just heard a “pop” in my heart and numbness in my whole body…, please help!!, just write a post on how we should all drop Gyorko( kind’like the Carlos Gomez deal) , he’s my option for Giancarlo…..

@Wake Up: not if they actually could comprehend what they follow, but they don’t, they listen to some a hole that tells them how to think and shapes their opinion without actually understanding the book they so love to quote, It’s like E$PN and all the horses**t they get people to believe and think makes them an expert. They don’t know Jack

Haha I told everyone not to draft Stanton. If you listened to me, you didn’t..and you’re sitting pretty today. There were so many better options at where he was drafted. Again, who told you not to draft Stanton?! Yeah it was me. You can thank me later ;)

@OaktownSteve: yeah, I was kind of leaning him after seeing all the injuries pile up last night. Damn deep leagues force your hand to do deals when you don’t really need to. I already slotted McLousy in for Stanton for today but those are the best options left. Not to mention I’ll have to DL Stanton and drop Madson to waivers.

I enjoyed your dalliance with punditry this morning. Well said. Nobody likes that bigoted chode Broussard anyway. By the way, autocorrect keeps trying to replace “Broussard” with “barbarous,” so there ya go. Anyhoo, I suppose I should get to the questions that have brought me to the comments this morning…

1. In a fairly shallow league (10tm ESPN H2H 5×5) I’m rolling with Reddick at my Util spot. Before that it was LaRoche. Before that it was Mostsuckass. It’s been a revolving door of suck. Am I blinded by Manfred Mann’s light in wanting to drop Reddick for Arenado? Or should I close my eyes and hold on?

2. With Mike Stanton to the DL, who is the best overall grab out of Brett Gardner / Martin Prado / Mike Morse? (Not necessarily the best for replacing Stanton’s numbers/power, but best overall)

I’m unfortunately a member of the Stanton / Heyward / Panda club. I have the lead at the moment thanks to Shin-Soo Choo’s hot start and some great pitching, but I fear that can only hold off the offensive floodgates for so long, and I’m falling behind in homeruns. Here’s the team:

I’m in a 12-team Yahoo public league, and it looks like even with DL slots filled I have to drop someone in order to add any free agents. It seems like my best bet is to trade a starter and a reliever, but there are no signs of life, Captain, among my competitors when I’ve sent out trade requests in the past. I get the sense that they must think there’s a catch since I have the lead. Arenado, Garrett Jones, Krispie (DL?), McLouth, and Moss are all available free agents, but I’m finding it hard to break up my league of extraordinary pitchers. What would be your recommendation? Is there anyone that I could straight drop, should I try again for a trade, or hold at this point? Thanks.

@vohnie: I think I’m going to open a night spot called the “Stanton / Heyward / Panda club.” It’ll be the saddest night club on earth (which sounds redundant until you realize its a different kind of “sad”), but we’ll serve neon-colored drinks in test tubes, the waitresses will wear those fuzzy panda-head hats, and there will be a nightly giveaway of an all-expenses-paid appendectomy at the Golden Corral buffet clinic next door.

I wanted to show you my lineup, except for my pitching cause I’ve showed you plenty of times lately, because I think I have excellent players on it but they’re doing horrible. I mean like 2 players will do good then when they’re not then another 2 will do good. I get no more then 20 points a night on my batting when I thought they were going to be carrying my team. Anyway I was wondering what you thought about it. Does having all these good players at one time clash? (10 team H2H points)
Prince Fielder
Matt Wieters
Jose Altuve
Starlin Castro
Ryan Zimmerman
MCcutchen
Justin Upton
Matt Holliday
Crawford
Ethier
Gardner
Josh Donaldson
Jose Reyes DL

Yeah I’m 0-3 and my bats are killing me.. I’m trying to find the word cause I don’t think clash was right but I know who I got I’m with for the season but I would’ve thought all these guys on one team would be crushing other guys with points.. That’s why I’m always wrapped up in trying to get great pitching cause not only do they provide a lot of points but I need something to make up for my hitting.. Would you try to make a trade with one of my top batters for a top pitcher?

1. For a utility spot, who would be your #1 and #2 choices among Aybar, Gardner, Prado, Morse? I asked a variant of this question above, but I didn’t realize Aybar was coming off the DL today. There can only be one!

2. If you owned Cishek as your 5th closer and also had Fujikawa on the DL (as I do), would you drop Cishek for Kevin Gregg? Thus having a shaky closer and his likely handcuff. Or am I getting too cute here?

Thanks again…and sorry for posting in bursts like this. Been an early morning and I have something like 6 shots of espresso coursing through my body.

I follow your advice when it comes to catchers. I was last team to draft one and got M. Montero which I was happy about. I usually also agree with you to just set and forget when it comes to catchers. But montero has been brutal. Lucroy just became available and there are guys like pierzynski, doumit, buck, gattis, ianetta, salty, and pacheco. Obviously a one catcher ten team league. Who would you go with?

I literally completed at trade 10 minutes before Stanton got hurt…sent Hanley, Choo, and Homer Bailey for Stanton and Sandoval. I still think I make out better in the long run, but this one hurts…..your guys thoughts?

Re: Harvey vs Fernandez last night… I watched the game (well, the first 5 innings), and both pitchers were getting seriously squeezed by the umpire (Tim McClelland). Ergo, the huge pitch counts. Jo-Fer probably had a harder time, as he kept trying to work the bottom corners and wasn’t getting anything. Maybe McClelland was trying to bring a little “Old School” baseball to these rooks, Cole Hamels.

@Carnac: There was some squeezing, but Harvey was off with his fastball command. Forced him to rely on his off-speed stuff (of course, off-speed for him is 90mph!).

His slider was good, but he didn’t throw it consistently and left a few hangers. His change-up was really, really good, and shows that he’s not just a one-trick pony. He didn’t throw his curve very much.

I love the kid, his make-up, demeanor on the mound, just everything about him. I have no idea what Collins was doing leaving him in as long as he did. He’d gotten through 5 1/3 innings with only giving up 1 run, but he was well over 100 pitches. Might as well take him out at that point with a left-hander coming to bat. As it was, the last two batters singled against him, so his line could’ve been cleaner if Collins had a clue.

Hey Grey, anything you want me to bring to the candlelight vigil? Ah yes of course a candle!!

After I asked you if I should trade Giancarlo on Friday, only to be dancing in the streets this weekend, to be dealt this crushing blow on Monday has been a whirlwind of emotions. Anyways who would you pickup…

Garrett Jones
Brandon Moss
Michael Saunders
Marcell Ozuna
Chris Johnson
Or anyone else you like that you think might be available

I also have a shady under the table $30 offer to my friend to buy Nolan Arenado. Don’t judge me!

Team DL here, I picked up Bourjos and bam, DL. Drop Bourjos for any of the following: Cain, Moss, Nava. Already lost Reyes so looking to make up runs if possible so leaning Moss. Also, Chacin is on waivers as well, either Garza or Niese worth a drop? I love Garza and don’t want to drop him especially after I’ve waited this long already.

Looking to sell high on starling marte in a league with BBs but i could use the SB… Would Alex Gordon be a stretch or is Gardner more the target range? Might Arcia be a guy I can throw in to sweeten the pot? Thanks

Is it time to give up on BJ Upton? Someone dropped Nava, Ike Davis and Arenado. I was thinking about putting in a waiver to drop D Murphy to pick up Arenado. Should I drop Upton instead or add him for the likes of Nava?

With Heyward’s timetable pushed back, I need a short-term RF fill-in who’ll have long-term value as a bench bat in a limited moves (15 left this season) H2H. It’s 10×10 with stuff like BB, K and TB, so SAGNOF is devalued, and the move limit gives position flexibility more value as well. Who do I pick up? Moss (1B/LF/RF), Cain (CF/RF), Markakis (RF), Krispie (LF/CF/RF, but hurting), Swisher (1B/RF), or Segura (SS, would shift Zobrist to RF)?

It was interesting watching Tommy Hanson get outs last night. He threw 87 mph fastballs past good fastball hitters several times. The key was they were at the letters or above. He threw two different curveballs, on very heavy overhand with sharp bite that ended up out of the zone down and one that was more of a lazy roller that he managed to throw for strikes and that served as a change of pace. Changed pace and changed the eye level and that’s pitching. A couple of decent starts in a row. I don’t think I trust him, but might be a guy to look at as a stream option with the right match up.

Straily just isn’t very good. Son of Donald is though. AL player of the week and another big hit last night. Couple of defensive gems too.

There have been something like 65 shutouts in April this year and 52 in all of April last year. The Red Sox are averaging 10.0 k/9 as a staff. The Tigers are right behind at 9.8. I think in fantasy this year more than ever, you had to go offense first. If you’re league mates aren’t hip yet, might be time to cash some of those fast starting pitchers for offense as it looks like it’ll be at a premium all year.

That’s kind of how I feel too. Like I said it was kind of baffling watching him get outs with that stuff. But in a way, like I also said, that’s pitching. There was some craft there. And the hard curve actually did look pretty good last night. Had some downward bite to it.

Late last night I noticed an offer of Shin-Soo Choo and Cingrani for Stanton.I don’t know if the offer was made pre-hammy or post, but I took it.The bonus is the waiting period is short,Shin will be in my line up for Weds.I guess it’s a gamble, but …..

@Doug Ault: like most vetoer’s when an explanation is asked for they aren’t around. being around vetoer’s is like telling other friends you’re friends with a cop. Even if the cop’s a nice guy, you still just feel dirty telling others about it.

Yo Grey! Love the work as always and appreciate your efforts. Would Harvey or Latos be enough to give up Hanley? I have Segura, Rutledge, and Utley. I’m a little worried about Utley’s durability and Rutledge’s job security/lineup spot. I have Cain, Wainwright, Bum, Cingrani, Estrada, Cashner, Milone and 10’s across the board in offense for my standard Mothership 10 team league.

PS-yes, I drafted Hanley. Not proud of it. But, I have 6 teams and had to change Shizz up a little bit!

Dang Nabbit Giancarlo!!! This really puts a damper on my team competing for the championship. But I’m in a keeper league and I’m 95% certain that he gets traded this season or offseason. I’m hoping (praying/begging/pleading) that the Rangers pony up and trade there top 2-4 prospects to obtain the services of Giancarlo.

But…I’ve been bombarded with trade offers this morning for Giancarlo. I’ve rejected them all so far. My question is: In a keeper league, what player would you be willing to trade Giancarlo for? I already have McCutchen, Longo and J-Up. I’m weak at 1B (see below). Or do you just hold tight and hope he doesn’t have a 2 month DL stint?

Also, any thoughts on Hosmer? I have him and Chris Carter for 1B. Would you role out Carter every day over Hosmer for now? Hosmer seems to be grounding out a lot, not really driving the ball. It’s starting to scare me…more than Orel Hershiser’s Michael Jackson-esque nose!

The A’s win last night was a monster baseball game… It was reminiscent of the game from Kisella’s “Iowa Baseball Confederacy”.. You could have been listening to Gideon Clark trying to convince you the unbelievable was really happening last night … I was ready for Teddy Roosevelt to arrive onto the field in a hot air balloon… WOWEE ZOWEE!!!

Mr. Gray missed that along with Bourjos – both Young and Crisp were injured running to first too… Waiting for updates…. Green or Choice may be seen soon in the Green and Gold for the first time if Young/Crisp have lingering hurts..

The longest lasting game is A’s history… I went to that Rudi May 13 scoreless IP – Vs – Vida Blue scoreless 12 IP classic back 1971, 1-0, the 20 inning one… It was just at 5 hours or so… Last night was about 6 and 1/2 hours…

I was so amped by going so far past my normal bedtime (no bed really up here on the Sitting-Pole – but, you know what I mean) – I had trouble sleeping afterwards…

Anderson, who was already hurt came on to pitch great in relief and left the game hurt some more.. Just some of the drama… Youngs mystery triple that was reviewed for a tatter… What happened there – did Trout just brain fart out there???… Cespedes’s sure to be walk-off homerun smash that turned downwards to become a double in the bottom of the ninth…. There were so many little things in that game… The ump understandably struggling behind the plate at the end – both ways.. Pujols who was the Angel’s hero became the heel in the end …

The worst April in the history of the Angels . A horrible loss for the Halos… Who lost a 5 run lead to go into extra innings and had more chances than the A’s to put the game away late too… They have to be sick..

A Pyhrric victory for the A’s???… Both teams may have been hurt by this match and the series has just started… We will see some new faces on both teams in the next 2 days to be sure…

Incredible stat mentioned was the A’s had lost 99 games in a row that they were 5 runs behind in and now have won 2 back to back… The Stros have a 200 game losing streak at this score line…

The game had it all… It was transcendental in scope… Wowee Zowee!!!! It is a good thing they are all not like this…

Good stuff, Mr. T Moore. I fell asleep around 11:30 not knowing there was two hours more to be played.

The Cespedes single in the 9th (remember he stood and watched) was 5 feet from being a walk off. Donaldson missed a walk off in the 10th by about 5 feet. The Young home run and a home run it was, hit the O.co promotional sign. It’s a cut out O with a net in it and at various points in the game if an A’s player hits one in there somebody or other wins something or other. Trout jumped for the ball, which hit about 15 feet above his head and then ricocheted back behind Trout and bounced on the warning track. The umpire waddled into a huddle then waddled to the replay review room and emerged with exactly the wrong call. I hate replay in baseball by the way. Speaking of Greek tragedy, the injustice of Young being robbed of a game winner and then being injured later as a result of the continuation. Stuff for Euripides?

Nevertheless, beating the Angels is always the sweetest. Though it may have been a costly victory, it beats a costly defeat by wide margin.

Steve: You missed the few hundreds of remaining fans chanting “RAY”and “Ken” during the late going – Bizarre…

Good point on Young… The announcers did say the replays they were looking at were certainly not conclusive… Agree about the reviews in general… **Unless there is fan interference on a tatter.. I had not thought of the injury /s though.. Both Crisp and Bourjos were hurt late too… I guess, it cooled way down there …

Yes, better a loser than a winner… Maybe??? Would have the A’s been better off in the long run not having coming back and not having to had played those extra innings though??… Time will tell.. The staff’s arms have to be in shreds now – esp. given the last dozen games or so hard use…

It’s always A’s first with me. The Captain Ken Korach. Heard his call of the Moss walk off on the radio this a.m. He’s got a good knack for occasion. Did well with the big wins last year, Dallas Braden’s perfect game, etc. Great radio voice.

As to last night, my Irish girl friend, a Gallwegian, used to say something that sounded like “iz maith ahn scailey ahn aimshur”. Gaelic translation, “time will tell a true tale.”

Good stuff! Would like to know what your opinion is of this situation in 12 H2H. Ive got Zimmerman coming off the DL later this week and can drop Aybar, Carter, Jyerko. Hoping to sell Aybar if he comes back hot for a couple weeks and Carter is decent for BB & HRs. Jyerko’s showing nothing, drop him or one of the others?

Been offered Ryan Zimmerman for Gio. I dont really need him but I could flip one of Jennings/Gardner for pitching help and plug him into utl. So:
A. Trade Gio for Zimmerman
B. Counter with Peavy/and back end starter for Zimmerman
C.
D. The hell with it stick with my team.

I am being tormented daily to trade JFerz. We are in a 10 team H2H Yahoo! Keeper league. I need pitching and I will not keep JFerz because my keepers are masxed out. He has SP depth, but wont really give much even though he is hounding me for him. He has Chen, Kendrick, Wood, Holland, Wandy, Hudson, Lohse, Ryu (he wont trade). Who if any do you recommend I try and get to help my team this year. He’ll obviously end up keeping JFerz.

I have Ike davis on the bench, I also have middlebrooks. I have sandoval an carpenter who are 3b eligible. Is it time to give up on ike? Or get rid of middlebrooks? I gotta pick up another pitcher in a 10 team roto.. I just liked ike’s performance after the all star break last year.. thanks grey!

Someone dropped EverCab. Do I use my #2 waiver on him? It’s a 10team H2H pts league… I have Rut at 2nd, Segura at SS, and Ryan Roberts at MI.. So obviously would replace neck-tat douche. Just not sure if he’s worth a #2 waiver… Thanks guys

Well Grey you knew it was coming. Giancarlo is heading home to the DL. No kiss goodbye,no text, and also not much in the stats dept.for your month with him. He’s a hurt-a-path. I know you have that used feeling again. You need to let go. You need the G-PATCH. No this has nothing to do with sex. You may have those feelings for Giancarlo. Are you blushing ? We won’t tell the cougar. Start taking the G-PATCH and in 4 or 5 year’s you’ll be able to look back and smile. All the bad time’s will seem a little less bad and the alcohol will help. Sorry mustachioed man you have been dumped again.

Trade Dickey for Adsdrubal? 10-team keeper league w/ no restrictions. My SS is Zobrist but he will be losing SS-eligibility next year. My 2B and 2B/SS are Kinlser and Aaron Hill. Hill is obviously out another month.

I need a youk replacement. I just hope he hits the DL and doesnt eat up a bench spot all eyar.

Arenado was stashed from the beginning of the year in my league (not even a keeper). Wire is thin as hell – Eric chavez, Gillaspie, Jiminez…

I could trade one of my closers (Rivera/soriano/grilli/wilhemsen) for a 3b. One team that is interested has Frazier and Middlebrooks available. A one for one here seems like I’m getting the short end, even though I’m dealing a surplus for a weakness. Should I try to get more?

I could also target the Arenado owner but trading for a callup seems too risky.

I went to bed early last night, so I didn’t hear the news until I took to razzball on my lunch break just minutes ago. I wish I had known this morning, so I could have called in sick to cry into my blanky while sucking my thumb, then drag myself out of bed to touch myself to healthy Giancarlo highlights from the last few days, and finally pound a bottle of cheap vodka. That’s what the rest of my week is going to look like. These coming weeks without him are going to be difficult. I feel your pain, Grey.

Awesome post as always Grey! Speaking of the Hanley sell that you are keeping well under wraps, I just pushed him/Kendrick/Sandman for Verlander/Hudson/Weeks in a dynasty format. What do you think? I have Aaron Hill coming back for 2B and Frazier for 3rd still.

In H2H each category league so Stanton would be taking up a critical streaming bench spot while on the DL but I’m still trying to buy low on him. Would you trade Rios or Chris Davis for him or is even that too much for the risk?

“Red Sox manager John Farrell indicated on MLB Network Radio on Tuesday that Andrew Bailey is likely to keep the closer job despite Joel Hanrahan’s return from the disabled list. “He’s active today,” Farrell said in reference to Hanrahan. “Before announcing what his role is, when he comes to the ballpark we’ll have a chance to sit down. … The one thing Joel is, he’s honest with himself, and he understands what’s going on here.”

@Grey: Thanks for clearing it up. I guess the biggest need is “whichever will hurt me least.” I was thinking Gardner originally, because of the speed element that Morse does not bring, but I really like both. In fact, I wish I could grab both–only room for one though.

Should I be worried about Hamilton or is it still too early? I didn’t draft him expecting 40 homers but was expecting 25-30 homers with a ~.280 average. Was planning to bench him today after that 0-8 but saw he’s going against Parker and his 8 ERA so going to keep rolling him out there at least for today.